


So Long, and Goodnight

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-10
Updated: 2006-04-10
Packaged: 2019-01-19 13:56:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12411612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: “And for the record, I never hated you.  And as far as the future’s concerned, I don’t plan on hating you then, either.”�As Sirius prepares to leave his childhood home, he has a final chat with his brother.  Read&Reveiw.





	So Long, and Goodnight

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**Author's Note:**   I've always wondered about the relationship between the Black brother's.  Just my take on Sirius's leaving.  Reviews welcome. 

 

        "Oh don’t start with me, Sirius!  We’ve dealt with this sort of behavior before, even overlooked it but you are pushing it.  Don’t you dare embarrass this family yet again!  For God sake you’re the heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black!”

            “Me, the embarrassment to this family?  Mother, surely you jest!  You’ve embarrassed yourself plenty without my help and-“

            Crash.  The china broke all over the dinning room wall.

            The scene was all too familiar: Sirius arguing as only he could with his mother, while she tried and failed to force a foreign system of morals down his throat.

            Thus was the background noise that had lulled Regulus to sleep for the past five years.  In reality, it had been longer than that.  But Regulus liked to pretend the deteriorating relationships between the Black family started when Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor.

            Sometimes it was much easier to pretend.

            If he pretended, he could say that he and Sirius had been close for much of his childhood.  When he pretended, he wasn’t the sniveling snitch that stood for everything that his older brother loathed.  And in this imaginary world, it was he and Sirius, not Sirius and James, that were the special breed of brothers that would lay their lives down for the other without question should the circumstances arise.

            Yes, many thought the youngest Black was delusional.  Regulus liked to think himself eternally optimistic.

            But this fight, on a much too hot July night, altered Regulus’ make-believe-paradise.

            Years later, Regulus would pretend it was the heat that got to Sirius’s head.  But he knew it was sixteen years of unbearably hot nights that led to what occurred on July the Sixteenth.

            “I’m done with this!  Here, Mummy darling, take your wand, scorch me off the blasted family wall.  I’m leaving!”

            “Leaving, where will you go?  You’re sixteen!  Not even two sickles to your name yet and-“

            The yells were muffled, but Regulus heard Sirius’s stomping feet, up the stairs, down the hall, crashing into his room, packing anything and everything he might ever want.

            And in an act of rash boldness, Regulus rose from his bed, and silently padded down the hallway, peering into the cracked bedroom door.

            “Is this really it?”  He asked tentatively.  Sirius started, turning around to see his thirteen year-old brother, bleary eyed, and perfectly scared.

            “I suppose.”

            “Sirius-“

            “Don’t start.  It’s nothing personal.  I just can’t stand merely existing here when I know I can really live somewhere else.  Maybe this whole oppressive atmosphere works for you but-“

            “Watch it.  Just because you’re different doesn’t mean you have to insult me.”

            There was a beat of silence in which Sirius threw some of his cloaks into his chest.  Books on the best pranks, followed by several school textbooks went next.

            “You’ll go to James’s?”

            “I suppose.  Potter’s are more like family to me than-“

            “Please don’t finish that sentence.  I’d really like to pretend that you liked me a little bit, at least.”

            “Regulus-“

            “I can understand Mum and Dad.  You can resent them, just please, don’t hate me too much.”

            “Are you going to stay, huh?  Are you, Regulus?  Because you listen to me.  If you stay, follow their orders, live the life they choose for you, then yes, I do hate you.  You may be my brother, but sometimes water is thicker than blood, especially when blood has no backbone.  And anyway, the world has no room for pretending.  That’s life lesson number one.”

            “You’re betraying us all,” Regulus stated, temper starting to rise.  He hated Sirius at this moment, if for no other reason than exposing his own flaws.  “Not just this family, but all of the old families.  This is not the time to betray Sirius, it’s dangerous out there and-“

            “I know Regulus!  Which is why I have to leave!  I can’t fight this war on their side.  Not when I’ve seen how good the other one is!  So just let me go!  Don’t pull the baby brother card now!”

            Regulus stood, silently watching his brother’s face closely.  He was silently begging Regulus to understand, even for a moment, what was going on inside Sirius’s head.  And for a moment, Regulus almost pretended he could.

            But Sirius was right.  There was no more room for pretending.  And this would change everything.  By leaving, Sirius was no longer his brother.

            “You should leave.  Dad’s still not home from work yet, and Mum will be too hysterical to really stop you.”

            Sirius nodded, reverting to his usual silent treatment of his brother.  His bag was packed, and looking around his childhood room, an unnamed emotion clouded his face.

            “I should go.”

            “Yeah, I’ll see you back at school.”

            “Mum and Dad won’t want you talking to me anymore.”

            “I don’t think I’ll really want to speak with you.”

            Sirius almost cringed.  Almost.

            “Listen, Slytherin’s a tough crowd.  They’ll be real hard on you because of me.”

            “Conceited much?”  Regulus said, slightly annoyed.  Sirius gave him a sharp look.

            “Just know that I’m never too far away, okay?  Don’t be an over-proud git.  If you need anything at all, ask me.  And Regulus, please think twice before you join their side, okay?”

            Regulus once again locked eyes with his brother, recognizing the emotion on his face.  Determination.

            “Alright,” he said flatly, offering his hand to his older brother.  After all, until Sirius left the house, he was still a Black, and should be regarded with a certain amount of respect.

            Sirius shook his hand, and inclined his head to Regulus.

            And as he walked out of his bedroom, fully prepared to 

enter the next stage in his life, he stopped for just a moment.

            “And for the record, I never hated you.  And as far as the future’s concerned, I don’t plan on hating you then, either.”

            And with that, Sirius left them forever, leaving more trouble in his wake than any he had caused for his family in his sixteen years as the heir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black.

 


End file.
